Saturday saw our first JCW Family Day

and what a day it turned out to be!

The day had been in the planning for months and we had decided to join in the fun at St Neots Charity Dragon Boat Race and Festival in support of the Carers Trust Cambridgeshire. Being a competitive company we rustled together three teams from our various offices to join in the race, some of the competitors managed to get some training in before the day, others, well let’s just say they were a little more relaxed about the whole affair!

The previous week had seen glorious weather so we excitedly watched the forecast for the days running up to the event, this in itself was a roller coaster ride and on the day, we saw sun, high winds and torrential rain. None of this stopped our staff and their families from supporting the event which was extremely well attended, perhaps it was the free food that encouraged them!

The event itself had a lot going on with a variety of food and drink stalls, a fun fair for the children and the stage entertainment kept everyone amused throughout the day with live music and dancing. But, of course, the most important part of the day was the Dragon Boat Racing itself.

JCW entered three teams; Royston Rockets, Leicester Water Warriors and Melton Machines. Each team had the chance to run in a couple of heats before they were all placed against each other in what turned out to be quite a contentious race!

All three teams were excitedly cheered along the river bank, the spectators clapped the victors but then there was hushed talk of a re-run. Apparently two of three boats did not hear starters orders and wanted to have another chance but the winners held their own and refused. Their refusal was probably more to do with wanting to conserve energy as one or two of the participants were already discussing their aches and pains!

In true JCW style the drama was put behind us and we all got behind the winning team to support them through to the semi-finals and then quite incredibly to the finals. Who would have guessed that the one team that had had no training, no trial runs, in fact none had even set foot in a dragon boat before – won the contest! Not only did they win but they beat the local champions who had not lost in their last 6 regattas! Huge congratulations to the Melton Machines for taking home the trophy and to Adam Moss who headed up the team so graciously without any hint of smugness at all!

JCW would like to thank everyone who braved the weather, who took part in the racing and came along to support the team and the charity the event was organised for. Your spirit on the day will be remembered for a long time and has also been captured in the many photographs taken throughout the day. If you would like to see more of those, please visit our facebook page by clicking here.

So everyone, what should we do next year….?!